Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
Tuesday, November 7, 2006 at 10:51PM 
A number of weeks ago, I ran into my friend Todd at Whole Foods. Todd's group of friends and my group of friends have morphed into a gigantic group of friends over the past year - we live in the same neighborhoods, do the same bikerides, and frequent the same bars. For the guy-side of the gang, Todd is one of my favorites. For starters, he's a brilliant attorney, no bull-shit, and has a love of linguistic pecadilloes just like I do. (We both love using "chimera" and "sturm und drang" whenever possible.) He's kind, affable (even at 8AM on the express bus,) and always a gentleman. But enough about that...this is war.
When I ran into Todd that day it was a Sunday, and we very quickly determined that both of us were going home to cook roast chickens for dinner. The next day, a few casual inquiries over email led to barbed taunts and gauntlets being thrown. I believe the words “My chicken will kick your chicken’s ass,” were indeed used. Deciding a proper contest was in order, we gathered our friends together on Saturday night for the Roast Chicken Throw-Down. Since I esteem the man and respect him deeply, I knew he was a most worthy opponent - a rare commodity these days. At first, the response to our invitation was somewhat lukewarm, however by Friday we had a full table for twelve (mostly the ladies of Todd’s harem,) ready to eat our dinner.
Todd & Me in the KitchenNow I knew that Todd was a Joy of Cooking kind of guy, so I did some research. Of course, I knew how to roast a chicken blindfolded, but I needed the perfect roast chicken, so I consulted a few favorites and found myself amazed at the variety of methods. I read a multitude of recipes, comparing cook times, temperatures, and spices – I found that the newer chefs want a hotter, faster roast (around 450 degrees for a full hour,) while the traditional French methods extolled by Julia Child and yes, the Beckers of The Joy of Cooking, call for a hot oven at the start (around 425 degrees) that gets immediately reduced to 350 degrees once the bird hits the oven. This then requires a longer cook-time of about an hour and a half. I was seeking the kind of slow-braised juicyness inherent in this kind of lower-temperature philosophy, so I decided to go with this method. But for spices and flavor, I decided to look to Jaime Oliver’s method found in The Naked Chef, getting creative with fresh thyme stuffed under the skin, and adding in a plethora of autumnal roasting vegetables.
The beauty of a roast chicken is that it’s a blank slate of culinary artisanship. A good chicken holds its own flavors and textures, while it can easily complement any number of ancillary attributes – spicy, sweet, citrus, savory…make it whatever you like, make it your own. I don’t think another pair of chickens has been treated quite as creatively as mine; I made up the recipe after all, and I’m happy to say they looked, smelled, and tasted just as I had hoped…but more on that later.
Todd had the home-field advantage: the party was taking place at his house, which is in my neighborhood, but I needed to bring two roast chickens there by 7PM. How do you roast a chicken and then transport it? Julia Child pointedly states that reheating of a roast chicken is strictly verboten, but being an old line cook, I knew how to improvise just as I knew that all meats continue to cook once you remove them from their heat source – this is what is called “resting.” So, I cooked both birds in a foil roasting pan (now available since Thanksgiving is close,) starting my oven at 425, reducing it to 350, and removing the birds after just one hour. Tenderly tucking them into some tinfoil for transporting, I knew they would come out perfectly when it was time to eat.
Whiskey the cat...Since I was co-host, I arrived very promptly, sharing a lovely glass of wine with Todd as I got the nickel tour of his amazing bachelor pad. I also got to meet the infamous cat named Whiskey, who is quite the charmer. The rest of the crowd arrived a bit late, bringing along their contributions of side dishes, deserts, wine, and more wine. And so, the throw-down began.
Todd’s two chickens and my two chickens sat side-by-side on the buffet, accompanied by Cindy’s brussel sprouts, Rachel’s salad, Scott’s mac & cheese, and Todd’s own “house” sides of broccoli rapini and homemade pesto pasta. We made a little introduction about our chickens, jokes and taunts in the air, and wished everyone bon appetit.
The RCTD buffet!Todd’s chickens were admittedly very good, but very different from my own. His flavors were richer, more garlicky, more smoky, more robust. Mine were light, citrus-y, fruity, and juicy. Even for me, it was a tough call. As plates were nearly empty, I began to feel nervous about the voting ahead.
“Should we vote now? Do you have paper?” I asked
“Can’t we just do heads down-thumbs up?” Someone contributed.
“I think we all need another taste of each of them.” Someone else tossed out.
So, additional tastes were taken, and private discussions ensued over whose cuisine would reign supreme. For me, pride was on the line – but it always is when I’m competing like this, second place just simply will not do. I brought my A-game though, and I was confident in my tasteful, original offering. Finally, Scott, (Todd’s best friend, and the only other gentleman at the party,) gathered some papers and asked for everyone to cast their vote.
“Can I vote for myself?” I asked timidly, thinking that this was like seventh-grade class president elections.
“You’re acting like you actually care!” says Todd. He can be so arrogant – such a lawyer.
Scott pulls votes out of a Yankee cap - clearly, this was the problem.Scott is obviously a showman because he had all of us on tenterhooks about the winner until the very last moment. One vote Todd, one vote for me, one vote Todd, one vote for me…we were tied almost the entire time…until…we weren’t tied anymore. Todd pulled away after he had five votes and I had four. It was a close finish though - his chickens netted seven votes in the end. “Two years of being a line cook, and I only get four votes?” I said to no one in particular…
“Well, if you were on Top Chef, you’d have lasted four episodes.” This is my friend Megen’s effort at consolation. “No – I loved your chicken. I voted for you.”
Well, more wine is opened, toasts are made to the chefs, and the talk is better than good. We clear plates and open up the deserts: lemon cake from Sweet Things, pumpkin pie from Whole Foods, and a decadent chocolate cake from a bakery on Chestnut Street. Todd opens even more wine, and more friends call up to be buzzed in – it’s Jill, Hugh and Brett, and they want to know how the voting went down, and possibly graze some chicken for themselves. Jill takes a few morsels of my chicken and immediately states that she’d have voted for me…well, better late than never.
Why is this man smiling?We move on to the Mouverdre and everyone eschews coffee. It’s now turned into a most memorable dinner party – the kind you want to have every week. New friends are made, chairs are moved around, jokes are told, impressions performed, and Scott’s wife Shannon requests admission into the harem. I felt bad about leaving Todd with a sink-full of dishes, garbage pouring onto the floor, and candle wax dripping onto his table…but whatever, he won, he should have a little pain in exchange.
Megen is now trying to rustle-up an enchilada throw-down. I’m Irish – we don’t do enchiladas, but I suppose I could try it. In any case, a new tradition of the RCTD has been born…
Autumn Roast Chicken:
This is just a run-down of the ingredients I used in my roast - even if I did lose, I stand by my chicken. Feel free to use your own favorite method of roasting, but I had my oven at 425, allowing the chicken to brown slightly on the back for about ten minutes, before flipping them to breast-side up for the remainder of the roast at 350 degrees. The birds roasted for one hour, and then rested for almost another hour under foil.
For the chicken:
Stuff the cavity with two small lemons (I puncture the lemons to allow the juice to flow) and about six cloves of un-peeled garlic.
Sprinkle salt & pepper inside and out.
Sprinkle with some lemon thyme inside, and stuff lemon thyme sprigs under the chicken skin on the breast.
After trussing, coat the chicken with butter and olive oil and put the chicken in a large roasting pan.
For the veggies:
Rind of one small lemon
Juice of two small lemons
3 Bosc pears (Bosc pears keep their shape in cooking, and they taste fab!)
1 head fennel, sliced thin
3 small onions, sliced
2 cups dried cranberries
1 head garlic cloves – unpeeled
1 pinch allspice
1 pinch ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
Mix everything together and surround the chickens in the pan. Sprinkle the entire mix with some olive oil, about ¾ cup of white wine, and ½ cup of cognac. Roast.
Allez cuisine!
Annie Wilson
An email from Todd...the morning after:
Reader Comments (1)
I absolutely love your blog and I'm obsessed with roast chicken... It's so basic, but such a great dish. I thought after reading your article, you'd think this quote from Julia child was cute:
In January 1955, I began to experiment with chicken cookery. It was a subject that encompassed almost all the fundamentals of French cuisine, some of its best sauces, and a few of its true glories. Larousse Gastronomique listed over two hundred different chicken recipes, and I tried most of them, along with many others we had collected along the way. But my favorite remained the basic roast chicken. What a deceptively simple dish. I had come to believe that one can judge the quality of a cook by his or her roast chicken. Above all, it should taste like chicken: it should be so good that even a perfectly simple, buttery roast should be a delight.
Keep blogging!
Heather